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(meteorology) An atmospheric condition in which a cooler layer of air lies below a warmer layer of air that functions as a "ceiling" for the cooler layer, interfering with normal atmospheric circulation and trapping pollutants.

Temperature inversions can occur in perfectly clear skies. Samford said such an inversion was present in the Washington area early last Sunday, when up to a dozen unidentified flying objects appeared on radar screens both at Washington national airport and nearby Andrews air base.

This term is sometimes encountered in the literature of ufology and other unusual phenomena, since the sharp atmospheric demarcation associated with some temperature inversions may reflect or refract light, sound, and radar waves, and thus serve as a basis for mistaken UFO sightings and other unexplained events.